The International Hotels Groups on the Polish Market – Competition Strategies of Selected Examples

The Polish hotel industry and the hospitality market have been drastically expanded for last three decades with the contribution of international hotel chains’ operations, which put each hotel’s survival into jeopardy due to an intense competition resulted from the growing number of businesses. Branding strategies have gradually become inevitable for a hotel to achieve a better position than its rivals thorough customer loyalty, which will result in a more superior performance in terms of survival, development of a sustainable competitiveness and above–average returns compared to others. The purpose of this work is to analyze the Polish hotel industry, identify instruments and ways to compete for international hotel groups and recognize the essential components of the competitiveness phenomenon. A qualitative analysis on Polish hospitality sector and an in–depth case study of an international hotel group operating in Poland were implemented to enlarge the current comprehension regarding the field of hospitality management executed in the Polish hotel industry. The results showed that, on the one hand, the key factors for the development of the hotel industry in Poland were the economic growth of the Country, the growing popularity of Poland as a tourist destination for national and international tourists, on the other hand, experience and know-how allow the creation of specific and distinctive resources useful for competing on the market and reducing access.